måndag 15 augusti 2016

This summer
have been much hiking and biking (including a very nice trip to the Swedish "High Coast", Höga kusten), and not so much sewing. I have made one
project thou: something I have wanted for a long time, namely an uniform from Star
Trek Voyager. I have watched the 7 seasons twice, and am a huge fan of Captain
Janeway. (I also like the cybernetic, hive-mid Borg of the series a lot, but
cosplaying them would be a significantly larger challenge! )

The uniform
is made from a black jumpsuit which I already had, which I picked apart and
remade. Just getting rid of the pockets took several hours, as they were very sturdily
attached ( it wasa work-wear overall,
after all, not a cosy lying-in-the-sofa Onesie/Onepiece...). The main changes was to make it a lot slimmer, and putting on the
colored yoke. I removed the sleeves, shortened it at them waist, and then using
my standard bodice patter for a template of how much smaller the bodice needed
to be. Then I recut the sleeve holes and sleeves, put on the yoke on sleeves
and bodice, and attached the sleeves again. All in all, I think re-modelling it
took just as long as starting from scratch would have done, but it felt easier
to start with something and just pin it in until it fit, rather than cutting
toiles and trying.

I also made
a combadge from plastic which I cut and painted. For rank pips, my husband found
perfect magnets, the right size and very strong. I also had to make a deviation
from what they wear in the series: the uniform has no pockets, and they almost
never wear bags, as the spaceship is so sofisticated that there is no need for
money or keys. My world however requires me to keep keys and money and phone (that
communication badge is still not working…), so I added a hip bag.

Photo by Iza Palm, cropped and lightened a bit to show more details.

I like the
result, and compared to the 1880’s dresses which needs corset and bustle and
underskirt, it almost feels like cheating to have a costume this comfortable. Now
I just needs to make up more excuses to wear it! Also, I would like try my hands with make-up, and paint on Jadzia Dax' markings and cosplay her.

Dual fandoms - Star Trek and Doctor Who! Here you can see the added hip bag.

The facts: What is it? A uniform from the science fiction series Start Trek Voyager

Fabric? A remade jumpsuit of very sturdy cotton, and some polyester for the blue-green yoke.

Pattern: I used my basic bodice pattern as a guide for the bodice. The pattern for the yoke is the same as I used for my Star Trek jacket.

How historically accurate screen accurate is it? It looks decent, but I have not cared whether the construction methods are the same as in the films, or not. My jumpsuit has a waist seem that is not in the series ones, and some seams in the back are different as well. Also, the "real" uniforms used wool twill, which would be almost impossible for me even to find, so I used cotton/polyester instead. I think the overall look is good thou.

Total cost: 8 Euro for the zipper and magnets, 10 Euro for the blue-green fabric (I only needed like 20 cm of the 1 m I bought, but the rest is probably not useful for anything else.)Hours to complete? A guess is 10 h for the jumpsuit and almost 2 for the combadge and fiddling with rank pips.

First worn? At the NärCon cosplay and game convention here in Linköping a few weeks ago.

How did I research this? Looking at pictuers, and reading the very good (but very long) costume analysis by a pattern company who apperarantly have done their homework well (found on this page).

About me

I got into historical costuming when I went to a medeival fair close to home, and made my first kind-of-medeival-ish clothing 15 years ago. Now, I am into several time epochs, with 1550-1580 and 1880's being my favourites, along with steampunk. I work as research engineer, and do costuming very on and off, when I have energy left and are not caught up in some other project.